Olivia Sparks

The night was still young, and the event coordinators for Finn's birthday party were busy packing up.

Guests had long been gone, but Oliver and Ava were still on celebration high as they talked about Finn's next birthday party.

"No more birthday parties for us, sweetie," Ava yawned, stretching her limbs. She didn't know how many cans of soda she had that day just to keep her energy flowing.

"Absolutely," Ollie agreed. If it's up to him, he'd rather have a simple celebration with just the three of them, however, Ava loved organizing parties and it kept her busy too so he let her do whatever she pleases.

"Brother!" Ollie called Maxen forth. "I need to borrow Olivia. Father wanted to have a word with us. By the way, have you heard Auntie Martha? Crazy right? Don't even dare follow what she said. Elope. Elope. Who elopes in the 21st century? Not the prince and heiress! Pfft!"

Hooking his arm on Olivia's shoulders, Oliver dragged his sister inside the mansion. Even in his tiredness, he was in a good mood, a side effect of the alcohol in his system.

Beside him, Olivia scrunched her nose upon catching a whiff of Oliver's skin that reeked with alcohol. She did not need to make a guess why he never ran out of alcohol in his hand that day. It was clear on his face how his mind was elsewhere the entire time, and she knew he was thinking about their mother.

Reaching their father's study, Oliver walked inside first, with Olivia trailing behind him. If it's up to her, she wouldn't even step inside and be confined in a space with Henry. It was a miracle that the old man asked for her presence in his private office.

"Take a seat," Henry welcomed them. He was in the middle of lighting a cigar when they walked in. The smell of his peach-flavored cigar wafted in the air, enough to irritate Olivia's nostrils. She swatted the smoke away from her face even when there's none.

She found a seat that was the farthest from Henry as possible, near the shelves where she could easily grab a book to throw in the old man's face just in case he says something that would infuriate her.

"I am not the best father in the world," he trailed off, grunting when he saw Olivia roll her eyes. "And I'm not the best husband either, that's why your mother and I have decided to file for a divorce so I could set her free."

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Olivia shook her head as she regarded Henry Lin. "Wow. Aren't you decades late for filing a divorce? You should have done that decades ago when she woke up for the first time."

"Livi." Oliver gave her a stern look, one of his eyes twitched.

Standing up to take her leave, Olivia heaved a heavy sigh. "The consoling thing about this situation is at least you're honest you're not the best father and husband."

"I'm not done talking yet," Henry seethed, pounding his fist on the table. It made Oliver flinch in his seat but not Olivia.

"If you will ask me to be a witness against my mother's sanity, then you're asking the wrong person."

"You left me with no choice then. If you won't sign the papers that I had our lawyers prepared, I have to remove you from my will."

Crossing her arms over her c.h.e.s.t, Olivia scrutinized Henry Lin. If he thought that his money would scare her, then he's wrong. 

"Go ahead. I've been financially independent since time immemorial, Chairman Lin. I don't even know where Lin Prime Holding's headquarters is. So my answer stands the same. If you're hell-bent on getting a divorce, then pay a doctor to falsify the doc.u.ments for you. If there's nothing else that we should talk about, please excuse me. I have to prepare for my surgery in a few days."

Olivia turned on her heel and was heading towards the door when a crystal ashtray flew her way, hitting the wall. It broke into pieces, and luckily, she didn't get hurt in the process. She scoffed. So she got that temper of hers from her DNA donor.

"You will sign it whether you like it or not, Olivia."

"I suggest you change it into Alexa's name. After all, she was Mother's nurse for years. Shes more credible than an exiled heiress who just got back to the country, don't you think?" Olivia stepped over the shards of glass that blocked her path, creating crunching sounds as she stepped out of the private office.

Closing the door behind her, she exhaled through her pursed lips, thankful for her narrow escape from Henry's attack. She walked towards a corner, freaking out on the inside when Ava stepped out from the shadows.

"Everything went well inside?" Ava probed. She was waiting not far from Henry's office when she heard the loud crash inside. 

However, instead of getting an answer, Olivia asked her a question of her own, "Is that pregnancy test Selena's?"

"Wha—what? No! Well… I don't know." Ava gulped. She couldn't bring herself to cook up a lie. "You know about… them?"

"What else do you know, Ava?" Olivia took a step forward, enough to scare Ava. She felt like a mouse that was cornered by a big cat.

"That Selena slept with… I caught them… twice."

"So the baby's his?"

"Livi." Ava grasped Olivia's hands, biting her bottom lip. She knew staying at home all these years would get her in trouble someday. "We're not sure about that, and it's not just Selena who came in and out of his… room. That's why when Finn found that test, I didn't know what to do with it, I just hid it out of fear."

The sisters-in-law's conversation was interrupted when Oliver swung the door open, uprooting the two ladies from their spot.

"Let me walk you out, Livi," Oliver smiled ruefully at his sister. He scratched the back of his head as he thought of the best way to break the news to her, and let her understand the situation. "I know you're still in shock about the news but, you have to understand why Father had to file for a divorce agreement."

"Oh for f.u.c.k's sake, Ollie! Have some balls just for once! Once!" Olivia halted in her tracks, lifting her index finger. "When Mother said she wanted to return to the Lin Estate, you agreed with her talking about family. Now you're telling me to sign those doc.u.ments that would hasten our parents' divorce? So which side do you really stand on, Ollie?!"

"Livi, it's not that easy. We have to take into consideration those who will be affected by their divorce, and that's not just us but all the people working for us."

"There you go again… First, you talk about the essence of having a complete family, then when you lose on that argument you move on to the welfare of the employees, but we all know the truth. You just nod your head every time someone presents you an idea because you can't have your own f.u.c.k.i.n.g one! Please tell me you haven't signed those papers?"

"I haven't. I told him I'll read it first."

"Good." Olivia nodded. "While you read that rubbish tonight, exchange mother's name with Ava's. Let's see if you could still stomach signing your name on it. You don't have to send me out. Good night."

Olivia exchanged kisses with Ava who then snapped her head between the siblings. She was afraid for her husband's life. It felt as if Olivia might snap his neck with the sheer animosity that emanated from her sister-in-law's skin. To her surprise, the siblings hugged it out, with Oliver shuffling his hand on Olivia's hair.

"Annoying." Olivia swatted Oliver's hand. The latter was finally smiling after their heated argument.

Later in their bedroom, Ava and Oliver were sitting on their bed with their backs leaning against the headboard. They were reading the draft that Oliver had to sign.

"What are you thinking, sweetie?" Ava asked, playing with Oliver's ear lobe.

"Maybe we should move out of this house."

"We should have done that a long time ago." Ava huffed.

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"Because… You're the head of the household… our household—Finn, you, and I. And when you told me you wanted to stay here so we can take care of Mother and Grandma, I agreed because that's what you wanted."

"But if it's up to you, what would you have wanted after getting married?"

"Play 'house' with you. Pick our own lot, design for our home. Be a "plant-auntie". What color our room would be. The works." She beamed at him, stealing his heart for the millionth time.

Oliver nuzzled his face on the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent. "Hey, that tickles, sweetie. Staaaahp!"

The shuffling noise of papers being crumbled alerted Ava, pushing Oliver off of her. "Ollie, the doc.u.ments, you'll ruin it."

"Forget about those." Picking up his laptop on the bedside table, he turned it on and clicked on the browser. "Let's go house hunting first. We're moving out of this shithole."